Tennis Australia as a Brand - Coursework Example

Tennis Australia: A Case Study (Student Name) (Unit) (Supervisor) (Date) Introduction Background Australia had its first tennis tournament in January 1880, played on the courts at Melbourne Cricket Club. Over the next two decades, the popularity of the sport grew all through Australia, especially amongst the upper class. At the turn of the century, the British Isles and the USA competed for the Davis Cup, although it was not called so then. Four years later, the competition had widened to include Austria, Belgium and France. This prompted Australia to incept a new challenge to the game. To achieve this, they had to found a national body which was named the Australasian Lawn Tennis Association after a meeting of state representatives in September which was to represent both Australia and New Zealand. Thus, the Davis Cup tradition and Australian Open (now 107 years old) were born (Tennis Australia, 2011). Tennis Australia is the governing body for tennis in Australia and manages the Australian Open in Melbourne annually. The role of Tennis Australia is not limited to the Australian Open but deals with Tennis at all levels, conducting local and intercontinental competitions such as the Davis Cup, the Federation Cup, etc. During the Australian Open, the 135-strong Melbourne staff of Tennis Australia swells to 6000 personnel. This is to cater for the over half a million visitors who converge for this International event each January. Aims The purpose of this paper is to facilitate the leveraging of the Australian Open brand to develop and facilitate participation in the games at all levels. Tennis Australia is a non-profit company and so this delicate balancing act is crucial to ensure adequate income to fulfil its core service characteristics viz: The continued staging of one of the world’s foremost sporting events as well as the associated Australia Open Series event that make up the Australian stage of the worldwide ATP and WTA tours. Ongoing investment of a financial and material nature as well as additional resources in grassroots and community tennis associations to facilitate growth in involvement in tennis and the wider Australian sport. Nurturing of present and future star tennis players. Can The Australian Open Championships be described as a Product? The Australian Open has symbolised the beginning of the tennis season in January for two decades. This event features some of the best tennis players in the world, and their fans, hosted at the foremost sporting event held annually in the southern hemisphere. The Australian Open is the first of four tennis Grand Slams, managed by Tennis Australia. This is the tennis governing body in the country, and it connects affiliated members all through the nation. What Service Characteristics does Tennis Australia Have with Delivering the Sport in Australia? A service is an indefinable counterpart of a fiscal good. Tennis Australia is the National Sport Organisation that is accountable for tennis within Australia. It promotes the playing of tennis at all levels. It also owns and operates several important tennis events such as the Australian Open Grand Slam Tennis tournament, the Australia Open Series events held in Brisbane, Hobart and Sydney. Tournaments can be used as a form of incentive because this provides opportunity for reward that is earned. A fast growing school of economics scrutinises the effects of incentives offered by tournaments. Prendergast (1999) supplies a recent survey of the pertinent offerings. Rosen(1986) implies that prizes provided at the zenith of a hierarchy need to be of extra weight to uphold the incentives afforded by performance all through the tournament that culminates in awards at the top. Theory of elimination tournaments forecasts that overall effort used through out the tournament is at its uppermost when competitors are homogenous according to Lazar & Rosen (1981), Rosen (1986) and Prendergast(1999). Tournaments which are uneven and a single competitor is ex ante more powerful than the rest, leads to a decreased effort. Instinctively, the more the handicap a contestant holds, the more intensive is it for him in terms of effort to overcome. Conversely, a relatively tough player is aware of his advantage and can afford to be more relaxed without compromising his chances. The Australian sporting landscape reserves an important place for Tennis Australia’s tournaments; both national, and international – in the case of Australian Open. Tennis Australia ensures accessibility of tickets to such events to encourage attendance. Therefore, there is considerable time and resources expended in ensuring that ticket prices are set within reasonable parameters. What Service Characteristics does Tennis Australia have with delivering Australia Open championships? Service has some unique characteristics that differentiates them from economic goods. These are intangibility, inseparability, perish ability and variability. Intangible products cannot be perceived by the senses before consumption therefore marketing cannot depend on product-based clues to assist the buyer in evaluating the product (Kleverlaan, 2008).) In the case of Australian Open, it has a reputation as the foremost sporting event in the southern hemisphere and this reputation facilitates its popularity. As well as the star power of the tennis players who participate. In order to disseminate this information, Tennis Australia has worked for more than seven years with Optus in order to execute top-notch communications technology to animate the Australian Open. As the audience grows, there is increased demand for a superior tennis experience amongst fans. “The customer experience is increasingly dependent on technology and the ability for us to connect to them and provide an enjoyable tournament,” said Steve Wood, CEO of Tennis Australia. “Enabling that connection and interactivity is absolutely key.” Is The Sport Of Tennis A Brand? Why Or Why Not? A brand entails the standards, mores, operation, qualities and reflection of an organisation or product. It is what sets it apart from the others occupying the same niche. As well as fostering certain expectations as well as mental associations between users and their experience of the product. A brand therefore is a co-creation between the parent organisation and the users of the product (Drupal Brand, 2010). The Health Index produced annually by Tennis Australia keeps an eye on sport participation among Australians. The 2005-06 report showed that tennis is the fifth most trendy form of leisure, working out and sport. 689,000 men and 634,000 women participate in the sport. The Australian Sports Commission released a study in 2004 that showed that 1.3 million persons fifteen years of age and over play tennis. This is 8.4% of Australia’s population (Tennis Health Check Fact Sheet 2005-6, 2006). Tennis is most fashionable with the 25-34 year olds and the game preserved its position as the second most popular past time in the winter, with 23% of the population taking part (Sweeney Sports Report, 2006). This leads to the conclusion that Tennis is indeed a brand by definition. Is The Australian Open Championships A Brand? Why or Why Not? Brand awareness is the level of recognisability of a business or products. This recognisability and prominence is significant in distinguishing your product from other similar products on the market. The Australian Open Championships is known as one of the world’s major sporting events and its associated Australia Open Series events that entails the Australian leg of the international ATP and WTA tours. This very definitely indicates that the Australian Open Championships is undoubtedly a brand. What Value is there in Aligning the Brand of the Australian Open Championships with Sport Development? The Sport Development Processes structure states that there are three interlinked processes that are Attraction, Retention/Transition, and Nurturing. This entails attracting, maintaining and developing the most talented sports people, facilitating partaking in the sport and using their performance in sport as a positive influence in the society. The Australian Open is a hugely popular sport that features athletes at the peak of their game. They are at the top of the sports development process and are a appropriate inspiration for encouraging others at the grass roots and in the community. Tennis Australia Aims to Build the Value of the Brand of Tennis – Is the Current Brand Statement Useful? Why or Why Not? The current brand statement may be useful in that it seeks to enhance the profile of Tennis within the country. Tennis Australia’s Community Tennis Manager, Mark McAllion stated that: “One of the great attractions of tennis is that it can be played by everybody, everywhere. At a tennis club you can join in the tennis community. It gives you the opportunity to play sport with your friends or to meet new friends. There’s a very strong social aspect” (Tennis Australia, 2011). There is no one voice that represents the needs of the potential sports participants. There are various motives that users have for wanting to play a certain sport. To develop a brand that responds to the needs of the potential users, it is necessary to understand them. During interaction with users, it is important to isolate the basic needs driving the user. It is normal for the user to attempt to communicate these needs by explaining how the requirement can be addressed rather than what it is. This inhibits development of the appropriate programmes. Thus the alignment of sport development and the Australian Open is a good idea in theory however, there is yet to be evidence on the ground that this is impacting significantly. Currently, there is no budding talent that shows potential to attain super star potential. Therefore, the usefulness of the strategy is in doubt. How Might You Measure the Success (or otherwise) of this Brand Realignment? The measure of success would be linked to what kind of spike occurs in the uptake of tennis within the Australian public and the conversion rate from amateur to professional players. This would be followed by how many professionals succeed on the world stage and are seeded by the WTF. It would also be measured by the increase in interest generated by the general public in the sport as well as rise in attendance of tennis tournaments. This of course, taking into account the current economic conditions and the state of the game world wide. If Tennis Australia is earning enough to run its operations without getting in the red, then the realignment would be perceived to be successful. Conclusion In summary, it is evident that Tennis Australia invests a lot of time and resources in enabling ticket prices to remain within a range that balances provision of access to as large a number of people as possible, without compromising the earnings derived from investment. Increasing the popularity of the sport is fortunately not an uphill task due to the immense popularity of the Australian Open and the fact that tennis as a sport is part of the history, culture and tradition of the typical Australian. These two factors could contribute to a rise in the uptake of the sport if utilised efficiently by Tennis Australia. Increased dissemination of the sport via mass media advertising, raising the profile and excitement levels of the Australian Open and reaching out to new fans via social networking sites, schools, colleges and other avenues will ensure the continued growth of tennis and the successful achievement of Tennis Australia’s goals. References Drupal Brand. (2010). Brand. Retrieved 14th May, 2011 from https://infrastructure.drupal.org/drupal.org-style-guide/brand.html Kleverlaan, Belinda. (2008). Certification - General information. Retrieved 14th May, 2011 from http://www.tennis.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Certification-fact-sheets-and-general-information.pdf Lazear, E., and Rosen, S. (1981): “Rank Order Tournaments as Optimal Labour Contracts,” Journal of Political Economy, 89(5), 841–864. Prendergast, C. (1999): “The Provision of Incentives in Firms,” Journal of Economic Literature, XXXVII(1), 7–63. Rosen, S. (1986): “Prizes and Incentives in Elimination Tournaments,” American Economic Review, 76(4), 701–715. Sweeney Sports Report. (2006). Sports in Australia Tennis Australia. (2011). Retrieved 14th May, 2011 from http://www.tennisaustralia.com.au/pages/default.aspx?id=4&pageId=282 Tennis Health Check Fact Sheet 2005- 2006. (2006). Retrieved 14th May, 2011 from http://www.tennisaustralia.com Read More